Emma Meets the New Girl
by The Chortling Mermaid
Summary: What happens when Emma and Bella begin to turn into rivals? Chaos!
1. Prologue

**A/N: First story guys! Please R&R, all reviews are appreciated, but not flames! )**

**Disclaimer: Don't own H2o: Just Add Water.**

Emma stepped off the plane, her brothers wrist in her hand.

"Let go of me!" Elliot shouted, clearly annoyed. Emma rolled her eyes and ignored him. Emma sighed- she was finally home, now she could go talk to Cleo and Rikki! It was hard being a mermaid all alone, especially with the full moons, which were hard to keep a secret from her family. She also couldn't go swimming with her family, but somehow managed to convince them that she no longer enjoyed swimming, or that it was 'her time of the month'. Emma released her brother's hand and told her parents where she was off to.

The cafe's sign had changed, so it now read Rikki's. I bet Zane bought it for her, she thought to herself. She shook the thought of her head and briskly entered the Juicene-no, Rikki's.

When she walked in, she immediately saw Rikki and Cleo sitting at a table. Rikki's hair was worn down, and Cleo's was in a ponytail, she noticed. She ambled behind them, seeing that they didn't notice her, and covered Cleo's eyes with her hands.

"Guess who's back?" She giggled. Rikki and Cleo quickly turned around, and wrapped their arms around her. Emma sighed in relief. She was home.

"We missed you Em." Rikki said, a grin spreading across her face.

"Yeah," Cleo added. "It's not the same without you." An unrecognizable girl skipped over with two juices in plastic orange cups. She had dirty blonde hair, tan skin, and icy blue eyes, which were similar to Emma's.

"Hey guys I got the- who's that?" The girl asked, evidently confused. Emma caught Cleo and Rikki exchanging a glance. Emma looked at Cleo, then Rikki, and then the other girl. She had no idea what was about to happen, but she could tell she wasn't going to enjoy it.

"Um, Bella, this is Emma. Our friend." Cleo murmured to the girl, apparently named Bella.

"Hi, Bella." Emma said stiffly, holding out her right hand. Bella grasped it and shook in an awkward manner. Emma forced a smile. Maybe they weren't trying to replace her, maybe they were just her friend because they felt sorry for her. Anyway, Bella couldn't replace her, she couldn't. After all she is human, while Cleo, Emma, and Rikki are mermaids. _Unless... No they wouldn't do that. Not after Charlotte._

**A/N: No flames unless you're Rikki **


	2. Explosive Estrogen Levels

**A/N: We're back! Here's the second chapter! Please R & R**

"Well, it was a pleasure to have met you," Emma concluded in the most polite way she could manage.

"And you as well," Bella replied, in one of her typical worried expressions. Bella was an introverted sort, lucky enough to have landed Cleo and Rikki as friends. Now who was this Emma who unexpectedly came to them, claiming to be an older friend? Bella would just have to take the initiative and win her friends first, before Emma could get to them. No doubt Emma would be a handful.

"Hey, how about we go for a swim today, bring Emma along! A great way to kick off our new friendship," Bella proposed, beaming at everybody around the table for approval. Emma was at a loss of words, but surely her friends would take care of this pesky human.

"Sounds like a plan," said Cleo first, looking to Rikki to garner her support. Bella was pleased with herself. This would be too easy.

"Yeah, sure. Let's just do it after my shift," droned Rikki. She didn't seem quite interested. Bella thought, She'll be the toughest of them all to get on my side.

"It'll be so much fun! We'll all have a great party, and I'll make sure to bring supplies..." Bella was musing to herself, deliberately overwhelming Emma within the first five minutes of having met her.

"... oh gosh, I gotta go, I'm supposed to meet Will in five minutes at the pool!" Bella was checking her phone's schedule for all her upcoming meetings with Will after the current one. Never would she forget about arrangements with Will. He was the light of her life, the sun in her sky.

"See you later!" Cleo waved to Bella. Emma watched as Bella rushed out of the cafe... out of earshot.

"She's definitely an interesting one."

"Yeah, you'll love her! The party is going to be great." Cleo assured her anxious friend. Emma narrowed her eyes, placed her hands on the table and leaned in closer to the two.

"Does she know?" Emma asked.

"Know what?" Cleo inquired, and furrowed her brow.

"You know," Emma started then lowered her voice, "That we're mermaids." Rikki seemed to find this amusing: she had to clamp her hand over her mouth to stop the waterfall of laughter that was pouring out of her mouth. Cleo nudged her, but Emma could see the smirk on her face. She watched as realization finally hit the two of them.

**"Em, she is one." Rikki whispered. The words hit her like an elephant had fallen on her.**

"Oh, I see. You took her to the moon pool to replace me. How could you do this? I thought I was your friend. What, does she have all of our powers? Like Charlotte?" She hissed, feeling tears beginning at the corners of her eyes.

Rikki rolled her eyes, "There she goes, with the water works." Emma shot a glare towards Rikki, as Cleo crossed her arms.

"Honestly, Emma!" she exclaimed. "Did you honestly believe we would befriend a clone of Charlotte?"

"Maybe."

Rikki snapped, "Well, Bella is no clone of Charlotte, and she does not have all of our powers."

Cleo placed a small, sad smile on her face, "Lighten up, Emma. Once you get to know her, you will definitely agree that she is meant to be-"

"Listen to me, for just a moment," Emma barely whispered, as her eyes stung. "Did you or did you not bring her to Moon pool?"

"Gosh, Emma! No! It's a long story of how we became friends with her, but she has always been a mermaid," Cleo replied rather calmly.

Emma lowered her eyes, "So, since she is no clone of Charlotte...What is her power?"

"Oh, she can turn water into rock or a jelly-like substance," Cleo explained, matter-of-factly. Rikki rolled her eyes at Cleo, who was trying to sound intelligent (and failing horribly). Emma felt as if someone stabbed her heart. So it's basically my power, great, just great.

"Sorry, I shouldn't have jumped to conclusions like that. She seems nice, I should give her a chance." Emma apologized, in a rather slightly bitter tone, not meaning a word. However, this went unnoticed by the two other girls.

"So, tell us about your trip." Rikki, not able to stand the awkward silence, changed the subject. Emma grinned and began to share her memories.

**A/N: No flames, I have pyrophobia**


	3. The Party

**A/N: Hi everyone! This is the next chapter. Please read & review! Reviews are like delicious food, we hunger for them!**

Bella set the bags of food and candles on the warm sand of Mako's moon pool, she was ready for Emma to not come along. She wasn't about to let some other girl take her spot in the group. After all, Bella was a mermaid, something that only she, Cleo and Rikki shared. Or so she thought. I'm so glad that Zane hired those rangers to clean up Mako. She sat next to the pool and texted Rikki and Cleo to come, and to invite Emma. She smirked at her phone, pleased with herself for coming up with such a devious plot. She would steal Rikki and Cleo back, away from the worthless mortal whom she was superior to. The blonde giggled evilly as Cleo texted back: _Sure will do. Cu in a min_. Then Rikki texted back:_ K, told Emma, cu in a few_.

Suddenly, Cleo swam through the cave.

"Hi, Bella." She said, overly-peppy.

"Hello." Bella responded, as she said this, Rikki swam through as well.

"Did you tell Emma?" Bella asked her, as soon as she surfaced.

"Yep, I told her, I also beat her!" Rikki exclaimed. Bella's eyes widened, did Rikki seriously hit her old friend? Well, she deserves it for trying to take over my spot as their friend. As she was thinking, she saw an orange colored shimmer in the crystal clear water. Maybe it''s just my imagination. She was quickly proved wrong when a head popped out of the water. It belonged to Emma.

"Hi guys!" That said girl greeted, a slight edge to her voice. No one seemed to notice except for Bella, however.

"What? Since when were you a mermaid?" Bella screamed at Emma, glaring into her eyes.

"Oh, I transformed at the same time as Rikki and Cleo!" She replied, sweetly. She was clearly trying to make Bella feel left out from the group.

"How many other secret mermaid friends do you guys have?" Bella accused Rikki.

"Will you chill, Bella? Emma is the only other mermaid we know!" Rikki answered, slightly ticked off.

"Well, there was-" Cleo started, then stopped when Rikki glared.

"Who?" Bella questioned, half-angry, half-curious.

"This girl named Charlotte, it was a disaster though, and we de-mermaided her, okay. We don't like to talk about it." Rikki snapped. Bella felt her cheeks get hot, she wondered if Rikki was heating them up, but when she looked at her hand she realized it was underwater, so she doubted it.

"So, let's start this party!" Cleo attempted to change the heated subject. Emma grinned, secretly she was so happy that Rikki was angry with Bella. It wouldn't be long until it would just be the three of them again; Cleo, Rikki, and Emma. Only them.

"All right! I brought some chips, pretzels, and candles that maybe Rikki could light." Bella told them, regaining her confidence. Rikki nodded, and clenched her fist, causing each wick to catch on fire. Cleo clapped her hands, and Rikki did a little bow in the water. The original three mermaids pulled themselves out of the water, and the mermaid evaporated the water off of them, revealing six legs rather than three tails. Just like old times. Emma thought, smiling at their past memories. The trio rose to their feet, walking over to the snacks, and each took a handful. They were crunching on the salty food in an awkward silence when Rikki turned on some fast paced music on the phone that Zane has given her for her last birthday.

The other three girls bobbed up and down to the beat of the music. Cleo began to dance crazily around the moon pool. Everyone stopped moving, and stared at her, giggling. Cleo stopped, embarrassed, then laughed along with them. To her it felt like all tension was relieved, but it really wasn't.

"So Emma, what's your power?" Bella asked feigning kindness.

"I can freeze anything, and I can make it snow. If Rikki, Cleo and I all use our weather powers, we can make a huge hurricane." Emma replied, again leaving Bella out purposely. The singer frowned, also noticing the similarities in their powers.

"That's nice. I can turn things to jelly or rock." She announced. Emma nodded already knowing of her special power.

"I have an idea," Cleo began. "Let's play around with our powers!" The others murmured in agreement; it was actually a pretty good idea.

"You go first, Cleo!" Emma said to her friend.

"Okay." Cleo made a ball of water by turning her hand.

"That's it? Come on Cleo!" Rikki groaned. Cleo frowned, and made it into a fish.

"Look, it's Hector!" Cleo giggled, Rikki rolled her eyes, closed her fist, and made 'Hector' evaporate. "Aw, Rikki why'd you do that?"

"I thought we were using our powers!" Bella chuckled, and Cleo glared at her.  
"I know, how about we have a little competition!" Bella suggested, looking straight at Emma.

"That would be fun." Emma murmured.

"Ready, set, go!" Rikki yelled, and made steam float around by her, making her invisible to the other girls. Emma froze Bella's damp shoe bottoms to the sand, forcing her to take them off. Bella glared at her, and made an explosion of jelly from the water of the moon pool, which got all over Emma. Cleo blew wind on everyone, and they all struggled to not fall in the moon pool. Emma froze the whole pool, and skated to avoid the wind. Rikki heated up the moon pool, so to make Emma fall in, but Emma had already gotten to where she had wanted. Cleo made a water dolphin, and made it swim toward them. It chased Bella, and before she could even think of turning it into jelly, she got wet, fell backwards, and her legs turned to a tail.

"Bella's out!" Rikki cheered.

"What?" Bella asked, outraged.

"You got wet. When you turn into a mermaid, you're out!" Rikki exclaimed.

"You didn't say that before! How was I supposed to know?" She screeched.

"Oh my gosh, calm down! It's just a game," Cleo chimed in. "Well, maybe we should go back now. I think if we stay here we'll do nothing but argue. Plus it's late."

"Want to race?" Emma asked all of them.

"You're on, Em!" Rikki replied, excited. The three dived in, and Bella crawled in, and they began to race. Bella, still angry about the game, turned the water around Emma to a thick jelly. Emma froze it so hard that it shattered, however, and froze the water in front of an unsuspecting Bella. That said mermaid crashed into the ice, and fumed. She didn't try anything else, though, she didn't want to become an icy-pop. Rikki ended up winning their 'friendly' competition, since she was a better swimmer than Cleo, and didn't get delayed.

"Better luck next time, Emma!" Rikki shouted, triumphantly. Emma decided to not tell her friends about what had really happened, so she bit her tongue and just nodded. She would get Bella for making her come in third, and she knew just how to do it.

**A/N: Please don't flame, but constructive criticism is welcome!**


	4. Planning Revenge

**A/N: Well, here's the next chapter, Planning Revenge. Thank-you to meg, for reviewing! Please read and review!**

Bella wanted to scream, she just realized that she had left her shoes at the moon pool. _Stupid Emma, this is all her fault!_ The other three girls had just departed, and Bella was heading home, too when she realized that she was only wearing socks. She angrily marched over to Will's shack; she needed to see someone whom she wasn't infuriated with. The mermaid arrived at his little house, and threw open the door, she immediately saw Will standing in the middle of the room looking at a shell.

"Hi," Bella greeted him with a sharp tone, making Will almost drop his shell. "Did you know that Cleo and Rikki know another mermaid?"

"No, but that's cool, now you have a new friend that you can relate to. A new member of the mermaid club." He mumbled, sort of ignoring her.

"No, Will, you don't get it. Cleo and Rikki used me as a replacement for when _she_ was gone! I'm gonna get revenge on the girls, and their little mermaid friend, and I want your help." Bella rambled, in a loud voice. Will scratched his head, as if it was difficult to comprehend.

"I don't know, it seems kinda mean." Will explained slowly, not wanting to make any decisions that would burn bridges between his friends and himself.

"Please Will, for me?" Bella pleaded, her lip trembling.

"But why do you want to do this? Cleo and Rikki are your best friends!"

"They_ used_ me Will. They never cared about me, they saw me as their old friend, Emma!" She spat. Will sighed, and began to nod his head.

"All right; I'll help you. What do you want me to do?" Will asked her, running his hand through his blond hair.

"First, we have to get them on my side, then we separate Emma from them, and finally we take away her powers." She instructed the diver.

"Gee, we're stripping her of being a mermaid? That sounds a little harsh! And for what, befriending them first?" Will interrogated, his eyes wide. Will had only expected a little prank, like something to embarrass the girl, not take away her joy.

"Well, that's not the important thing. I just want my friends to like me again!"

"I get it. Jjust remember; you'll always have me to support you." Will told her, then pecked her cheek. Bella playfully rolled her eyes, and began to leave the room.

"Okay, we can start this tomorrow. Call me." The mermaid said from the doorway.

"Bye, Bella!" Will waved his left hand a little. Bella grinned to herself; she already knew how to get on the duo on her side, all she would need is Will's cooperation; she would make Emma look like a snobby, un-trustworthy friend. Then, Bella realized that she was still missing her shoes. Are you kidding me? So, the blonde dived into the nearby water, and felt the transformation; a bubbly, fuzzy feeling coursing through her legs. She flicked her tail, still slightly angry, and headed towards Mako Island.

Bella observed the breathtaking rainbow of fish and coral briefly, as she continued swimming through the water, swishing her orange tail. Personally, she loved the feeling of barely needing to breathe; it was as if her lungs were filled to the brim with oxygen, and didn't need anymore. The salty taste of the clear water entered her mouth, as she grinned. She was better than Emma; she, after all was a mermaid longer, and was more experienced. The mermaid was so absorbed in her thoughts that she almost didn't notice the fact that she was at the moon pool. She yanked herself out of the water and onto the dirty sand, and immediately spotted her forgotten shoes. She was about to stick it on her foot, when she realized she just had a tail. She growled, and laid in the sand; this was going to take forever!

Bella laid there, infuriated, and after a few minutes she noticed a shimmering blob in the nearby pool_. Don't be Emma, don't be Emma!_ Karma played against Bella as Emma emerged from the water. Bella scowled softly looking directly at the mermaid in the water.

"Hello, Bella." She greeted with forced sweetness.

"Hi. What are you doing here?" The mermaid replied.

"Well, this is the place _I_ became a mermaid. Isn't it? Now, what are _you_ doing here?" The swimmer spoke through clenched teeth.

"I was getting the shoes that I left after our little 'play fight' and now I'm waiting for my legs to come back. Okay?" When she finished, Emma chuckled.

"Why haven't you turned the water to jelly yet?" She asked, bemused.

"Wh-what do you mean?"

"Then you could get rid of the water, _duh_!" Bella's eyes shone with realization at this point.

"I-uh-" She started, only to be interrupted by the other girl.

"Wow, you've been a mermaid for what, nine years, and you still haven't thought of that?" Emma teased. Wait, how does she know how long I've been a mermaid? Bella grumbled something which sounded like 'go away'. So, Emma mocked her with intention to damage Bella's self esteem, "What are you gonna do about it?"

"I'll-I'll make you into a statue if you don't get out of here!" She threatened.

"I'd like to see you try that as an ice cube!"

"Try it!"

"I will! And I've frozen someone before, ask Rikki and Cleo!" Bella's cockiness dropped, she doubted she could even turn a person to stone. Maybe their blood, but that's disgusting, plus, she doubted Emma was bluffing. She also didn't want to kill the girl; just to get her out of her life. So, she turned the water on her tail to jelly and felt herself turn back to human. Wiping the substance off of her, she grabbed the shoes, shoved them on her feet, and dived into the water. Emma grinned; she had won their first battle, without even using her powers.

_I'll get you Emma, you'll see; you may have won this time, but it will be your last victory._ She giggled madly underwater, the bubbles pouring out of her mouth to the surface of the water. Unfortunately, what she didn't realize was that Emma was planning revenge, too.

**A/N: In the next chapter we will find out what Bella and Emma's plans are. Try to guess! ^-^ And please review! :)**


	5. A Sick and Twisted Plan

**A/N: Well...sorry for the wait, but here it is! Thanks to our reviewers: emo-rocker101, pepper203, Guest, and, YugiohObsessed! Your reviews mean a lot to us! :) Please read and review!**

Emma rested on the underwater rock at the front of the moon pool, gently swishing her tail back and forth. She needed to come up with a plan to get Bella, before Bella could get her. All she needed was a good plan- scratch that; a great plan! She had a basic idea; to simply ostracize Bella, and take her rightful place as Cleo's and Rikki's best friend. But yet, she didn't know how to fulfill it. Nothing seemed like a viable plan, so she decided to leave. She sunk deeper into the water, flicked her tail-feeling the air of the surface-and swam out of the underwater exit. Through a jet stream of bubbles and astonishing speeds, Emma swam to her favorite place.

"Hey guys," Emma greeted her friends, all sitting at the juice counter. However, they weren't paying much attention to her, in fact, they didn't even notice her. They were more focused on the live music, more importantly; the singer. As she turned her head, Emma saw and heard her rival singing up on top of the stage. Anger and heat coursed through her veins, as she saw her two best friends clearly enjoying Bella's performance. _She's not that good... _Emma asserted in her mind, but was truly raging with jealousy. Her arrival was already forgotten at this point, as she was looked up as a nobody to her own friends, due to Bella's captivating performance. Since her friends didn't even bother to greet her, she decided to just go home before Bella saw her. She quietly slipped out of the cafe, and marched in the direction of her house. When she arrived, she opened the front door, and immediately ran upstairs, off to her room, when she suddenly stopped in her tracks. A heavy coughing emanated from within Elliot's room-a wet, guttural cough. "Elliot?"

"Is that you Emma?" Elliot rasped.

"Please, Elliot, open your door _right_ now," Emma demanded, banging on his door with her fist. Despite having no anger towards her brother, her bottled up emotions of her rage towards Bella unleashed her wrath right onto Elliot's door. After he didn't answer, she just simply turned the doorknob and barged inside his room. There, she saw Elliot lying on his bed, covered in used tissues. Emma's eyes slightly widened as she looked upon his unusually paler face, and trembling body. "Elliot! Where's Mum and Dad?" Emma practically yelled at the obviously sick boy.

"Mum," he paused to go into a coughing fit, "is at the store buying some medicine." He explained in a congested voice. Emma sighed; his hoarse voice sounded awful. Then, something clicked in her head, like a lightbulb appearing above her head, as if she was living her life as a cartoon. She would get Bella sick! Then she wouldn't be able to perform at Rikki's, _and _she would be isolated from _her_ friends!

"Oh, Elliot! Let me clean that up for you!" She said gesturing to the used mass of tissues surrounding him. However, she wasn't going to throw them away.

"Thags, Emma."

"Not a problem," Emma stretched a rather caringly smile, as she almost skipped out of his room. "I'm going to get some latex gloves, I'll be right back," she called to Elliot as she softly pulled the door behind her, leaving it ajar. She sprinted back to her room, to retrieve the gloves stashed on top of the shelf she kept them on, usually in case of some emergency involving water. She put them on, excitedly slipping one on her right hand, and then one on her left hand. She picked up her mostly-empty trash bin, and a garbage bag, and carried it into her brother's room, preparing to collect the infected items. Elliot stared at her rather strangely, as Emma face was clearly lit up with over-excitement and anxiety. "..Since d'wen do-" he coughed, "-you like to help me?" he managed to say without releasing another fit of coughs. Emma simply rolled her eyes, but rather playfully as her wide smile was still locked in place on her face.

"I just wanted to spend time with you, Elliot," she smoothly replied. Elliot's eyebrows raised, as he still stared at her with a strange look,

"By bickink up my used dissus?"

"Yes, by picking up your tissues, what's so strange about that?" Emma replied in her slightly sarcastic tone. When it comes to dealing with Bella, picking up her horribly sick brother's used tissues and using them to ruin Bella's life didn't seem strange at all to her. Elliot decided not to reply and rolled his eyes in return. Emma happily ignored him as she tied up the black trash bag, and carried it out of her brother's room and back into the hallway. Instead of chucking the bag into a garbage can, she sprinted back to her room, and shut her door. She chucked the bag on the floor, and ran to her kitchen, opened a cabinet, and grabbed snack-size bags. When Emma returned to her room, the mermaid picked up each tissue with her gloved hands out of the garbage bag and placed a few in a some little snack sized bags. Emma was careful to completely seal each bag, so the germs couldn't escape. She placed the bags by the window, and closed the curtains, so they could capture some heat to reproduce. Emma giggled to herself. She didn't expect Elliot to even bother sneaking up in her room with his sickness. And if her parents barge into her room at some point-

"Emma, Elliot! I'm home!" her mother called from downstairs. But the sound of her footsteps were traveling upstairs, as she called out once more, "Elliot, I have your medication." Emma sighed of relief as she looked down at her little tissue bags. The only way to spread Elliot's sickness to Bella would be to lets germ invade something she would be eating, drinking, or even...holding. A smirk was spread across Emma's face. The microphone on stage in Rikki's! _What a perfect item to contaminate! _Emma snickered quietly to herself.

Sneaking off to Rikki's early in the morning was fairly easy for Emma. Her brother was drugged asleep, and her parents were catching up on rest from the long days of work. Carefully and quietly as possible, she managed to slink downstairs and shut the door behind her. To avoid a handful of unusual looks from strangers walking by, she stuffed the mini snack-sized bags containing tissues back into her garbage bag, and carried it down to Rikki's. She was sure to pack two pairs of gloves; one to handle the germy tissues, and one to have a back-up. Escaping the interrogations of her parents was the hardest part of her plan, so, unfortunately, her idea of how to avoid being caught by her friends of Bella was not thought out. Hopefully, if karma decides to give her some slack, neither Bella or her friends will be around to even find her inside. The mermaid pushed through the beaded entrance, and quietly stepped inside.

She practically tiptoed into the store, carrying the bag, like Santa carries his sack of toys. The lights were all off, meaning that no one was inside. Emma let out a breath that she didn't even know she was holding, and continued to the empty stage. All of the equipment was there, including Bella's microphone. The blonde scrambled over to it, and yanked a small plastic bag out of her garbage bag. She pulled out a few tissues that made her want to cringe, and rubbed the gross contents of it all over the microphone. For a second, she felt guilty , but decided to brush it off. Bella had attacked Emma first during the race after all! She was only returning the favor. If she had her way, Bella would be sick and away from her friends, and Emma would steal them back from her. It wasn't as if she enjoyed making her ill; she just really wanted her best friends back.

At noon, Emma decided to go back to Rikki's to see if Bella was holding the microphone. She would make sure that the germs would enter her body, no matter what it took.

**A/N: So, what'd you think? Any feedback is appreciated! :)**


	6. A Staged Reaction

**A/N: Hey guys! We're back! Thanks to everyone who reviewed and/or followed/favorited. Please check out our poll. Well anyway, here is Chapter Six!:**

Bella strutted into the cafe, a slight smirk spreading across her face. This is something Emma could never dream of doing. In a confident stride, she took her place up at the stage, and wrapped her fingers around the mic, the smirk only growing into a blinding grin. The place was crowded, sending a little shock of shivers through her body. At the bar sat Cleo and Rikki, and Emma was clearly not with them. Behind her was Lewis at the drums, waiting for her cue. The buzz of the cafe began to simmer in anticipation of Bella's set. As she brought the microphone to her mouth, she noticed that the little red light wasn't on like it should be. She had pressed the on button, but nothing happened. She looked at Lewis, puzzled.

"Lewis, I don't think this mic is working." She whispered hastily to him.

"Here, let me check," He replied, extending his hand. Lewis played with the wiring for a little while, and got the little red light to turn on. "Testing, testing!" Lewis shouted into the microphone, and got a positive response from the speaker. From across the room Emma cringed, that wasn't supposed to happen! There wasn't much she could do now.

"Thanks, you're a lifesaver." Bella murmured excitedly, slightly turning her head. As she did, she noticed a worried blonde. So, Emma had shown up, well, she was in for a big surprise. She held her hand over her mouth to stifle a few giggles. Then, she started singing a capella.

She walks around  
Like these streets are hers  
She walks around  
Like she'll never get hurt  
She walks around  
Like she's the queen  
Ohh she walks around  
And all over me  
(cues band to start playing)**  
**

As she sang, she glared directly at Emma, after all, that's who it was about. When Emma noticed this, she just smirked, thinking of how sick Bella would be. They held each others' harsh gaze until Bella's song was over. The singer fixed her hair confidently, and rubbed her eyes with the palm of her hand, noticing the irritation of them from the 'staring contest'. The other mermaid's smirk spread even farther across her face. It looked like she wasn't going to have to do much to further infect the singer. She would just help the virus along, that's all.

Emma sauntered over to her friends at the counter, knowing that Bella would eventually join them. Before she could get to them, however, Lewis bumped into her.

"Oh, sorry. Wait! Emma you're back!" He said in amazement. That's right, I never told him I was back...oops.

"Hi, Lewis!" She greeted, pleasantly, however before she could say more, Rikki and Cleo came over to them.

"Hey, Em! Great job, Lewis!" Cleo greeted them, waving her hand a little. Lewis smiled at her, and wrapped his arm around her shoulder. Bella watched this from the stage, when Will walked over to her and tapped her shoulder.

"Hey, Bella. Is that their friend?" He asked, gesturing to Emma.

"Yes, it is," Bella replied through gritted teeth then continued in a whisper. "Get over here." She led him to the back of the room.

"What is it?" Will asked scratching his head with his free hand, as Bella was grasping onto his forearm.

"Tomorrow, I want you to kiss Emma, and make it look like she tried to kiss you so she'll look like a bad friend." She whispered her devious plan. Will's face seemed to drop as she continued on

"B-but I don't wanna kiss her. I don't even know her," he whined.

"But Will, you have to, please!" She begged in a loud, yet soft tone of voice. The mere thought of kissing Emma was enough for Will to excuse himself to the bathroom. He ran in and looked in the mirror, he was scared of kissing another person. The thought of even kissing Bella made him queasy, never mind a girl he didn't even know. He scrubbed his hands with soap, as he tried to distract himself from the thought of forcing his mouth onto someone else's. The emotions of insecurity and anxiety made him scrub his hands rather roughly, but as he heard Bella's constant knocking, Will shut off the sink water and exited the room.

"Please, Will," Bella begged, and like a dog's begging for food, her eyes lit up full of innocence. Many customers in Rikki's were beginning to stare at the couple, but fortunately none of the mermaids noticed. Bella pretended to brush off a tear when he saw her.

"Fine, Bella. But only one time, and you owe me," he mumbled and rolled his eyes at Bella, pretending as if it wasn't a big deal for him.

"Oh, thank-you Will! You're the best!" She smiled at him and joined her friends, turning back to give Will a grin and a wave. Since she was tilting her head towards the direction of Will when she was walking, she failed to notice that Emma was directly in front of her, which resulted in Bella being nearly knocked over.

"Oh, hi Bella." Emma greeted with a slightly icy tone, as she stood up. Bella's face suddenly dropped in nervousness when the fact suddenly assembled in her mind. What if Emma heard me?

"What were you talking to Will about?" Emma asked, with curiousness plastered all over her face. She fixed her hair and smoothed out the wrinkles in her top, as it was a rather nervous habit of hers.

"You know, just normal conversation. How the water is. Wait. How do you know that that's Will?" She practically screamed.

"Oh, just a lucky guess. You're just so close to him, almost clingy. You did mention him before." She responded in a low voice. The truth was that Rikki had told Emma who Will was, and she just decided to call Bella out on it. Bella's cheeks turned a deep crimson as Emma's word sunk in. Was she really clingy? She turned her head towards the ground and kicked the floor, and then lifted her head slightly up, but yet kept her eyes focusing on the dusty floor.

"Okay, then." She managed to squeak, making Emma smile a little. Rikki innocently walked over to them as Bella tried to hide her embarrassment by nervously running her fingers through her hair.

"Hey, guys! We were wondering if you wanted to go for a swim." The mermaid requested, referring to obviously herself and Cleo.

"I can't, I have to sing again in a few minutes." Bella mumbled, a slight frown appearing on her face.

"Oh, okay. Emma, can you come?" She redirected the question.

"Sure, I'm free. Let's go!" Emma's grin grew, as the innocent, rather overjoyed tone of her voice made Bella's stomach churn.

"See you later, Bella!" Rikki called over her shoulder. "Come on, Cleo, Emma's coming." Bella stood there with a blank face, as the feeling of rejection crawled up into her heart. Breaking out of her frozen, awkward stance, she decided to go over the next song with the band.

***

Bella groaned when she woke up, as she discovered she could barely breathe through her nose. She slowly rose up in her bed, resting the palm of her hand against her forehead. Immediately, she was hit with a slight headache, and a burning sensation against her palm. Bella proceeded to get dressed, despite this, and headed straight to Rikki's.

When she arrived, Lewis and Nate were already there, doing a soundcheck. They spotted her her waved her over. Bella walked over to them, and with each step her headache got a little worse.

This time, there wasn't an issue with the microphone. The red light went on, no problem.

"Alright; one, two, three!" Bella counted off in a scratchy voice. She sang in a rather convincing healthy tone of voice. However, this almost changed as she saw what was going on in the back. Will was leaning closer to Emma, she up until this moment had no idea that either of them were there. He pulled Emma into a passionate kiss, which caused Emma to grab onto his shoulders and push his face away in astonishment, instinctively slapping his cheek with her hand. As the scene played out, the singer's voice abruptly stopped, biting her lip as her face morphed into rather over-exaggerated shock and disbelief.

"Emma! I thought you were my friend! How could you?" She acted horrified, widening her eyes. The other mermaid was unsure of how to react. Surely Bella had seen that Will had basically attacked her with a kiss. Although she despised the other mermaid, it didn't stop her from feeling a wave of guiltiness even though it wasn't her fault for Will's actions.

"It wasn't- I didn't..." Emma trailed off, at a loss for words. The other girl stormed off of the stage toward the duo. At this point, everyone inside the cafe were watching the scene. She stomped over to Will and smacked his face harshly.

"Ow, Bella! What was that for?" He yelled at her, it was one thing for Emma to hit him, since even he knew he was being a jerk, but for Bella to hit him as well? Will seethed with anger as the burning sensation on his face shown what a ridiculous, unnecessary touch-up that smack was for her acting.

"I can't believe you two went behind my back." She stormed out of the room, pretending to muffle her sobs on the palms of her hands. Emma didn't know whether to chase after her and muster up the ability to apologize to her, or simply stand and smile at her own unexpected victory. Walking up to her her two best friends, she decided to hear their opinions to seem considerate and caring to what recently occurred.

"Guys, you saw what happened, right?" She asked Rikki and Cleo.

"Yeah, Em. But I don't think Bella did. You should explain what happened." Rikki advised, patting her friend on the shoulder. Emma frowned as she imagined an alternate scene of seeing Bella kiss Ash, therefore realizing she would have lost it, too. Shaking the image out of her mind, she ran off to the other mermaid to make amends.

**A/N: So, how was that? Please don't flame, you'll melt my igloo. :)**


	7. Confrontation

**A/N: Hi guys! Sorry for the wait, but here is the next chapter! Thank-you for all of your reviews; they really mean a lot. :) Please R & R!**

Emma dashed out of Rikki's in search of her rival to apologize; even though she really had nothing to apologize for. As soon as she went through the beads, she caught sight of Bella, who was slouching on a bench and crying hysterically into her hands.

"Hey." Emma greeted, in an awkwardly sympathetically way. Bella slowly slid her hands off of her face, sending a sharp glare towards Emma, as she rudely murmured,

"_Hey_?" Emma bit her lip, and cautiously sat down on the bench, and focusing her eyes on the soft grass.

"Listen, Bella. I am really-" Emma gnawed on her lip, the words did not seem to flow out of her mouth naturally. Bella watched her expectantly.

"I- I am really sorry," she muttered, as Bella kept her stare, as if waiting for details of how "really sorry" Emma truly is.

"Will- I- I don't know what's wrong with him! He kissed me!" Bella crossed her arms in disbelief.

"Will is the best thing that has ever happened to me. He would never do anything to hurt me! You however..." Bella yelled in disagreement, pointing her finger at the other girl's face as she ranted. The singer cleared her throat a little bit in the silence, as Emma slid away on the bench from Bella's finger, just enough so that it wouldn't poke her eyes.

"I swear, Bella!" Emma's angry tone broke the silence, "Will leaned in and that idiot kissed me! I guess he's not that "best thing ever" that ever happened to you, considering the fact I am the one apologizing to you!"

Strangely, letting loose of the anger towards Bella that Emma struggled to contain felt somewhat comfortable. She didn't care Bella was crying hysterically moments ago, and she had a feeling that Bella wasn't going to cry any more after the lash of insults towards her boyfriend.

"Excuse me?" Bella stood up rather shakily from the bench and clenched her fists, hoarsely replying, "How dare you talk about my boyfriend like that! Don't you ever call him an idiot, especially in front of me!" She sniffled a little bit to prevent her nose from running.

Emma eyes widened as she snarled, "Are you crazy? Your perfect blond boyfriend made out with me while you were performing! Now you're defending him?" She stood up as well, towering over Bella with her eyebrows slanted.

Bella put her hands on her hips, "I can believe whatever I want to believe, and my own eyes saw you kissing Will! No matter how many lies you spit-"

Emma's eyes twitched, "You know what? Just stop. I tried forcing myself to apologize to you, and guess what? You should be apologizing to me! Your boyfriend attacked me, and you stole my best friends-or at least tried to!"

Bella's eyes widened, staring at Emma with her stunned face. Her lips twitched, as if wanting to snap back an insult, but strangely holding back from unleashing her claws and scratching Emma's face. Instead, Bella simply kept a cold stare towards Emma for a few more moments before turning around and slinking off into the crowds, with a smirk forming on her face.  
Coughing into her sleeve, Bella began to swiftly run on the sidewalk, looking for her boyfriend. She eventually spotted him; he was leaning on the outside wall of the cafe, with his arms crossed. To say the least, he did not look happy, but rather out of touch with the present time.  
Bella grinned playfully, "Will!" she laughed, which evolved into another loud cough.

"What now?" Will snapped, "Here to tell me you want me to kiss Cleo and Rikki too?"

Bella rolled her eyes, "Stop it." She punched his shoulder softly, grinning widely. "That idiot Emma, oh my God, she threw such a fit- and in the end, she actually believed she told me off! But that annoying brat better watch, because I am going to-"

"Bella," Will sighed, but Bella ignored his quiet plea to stop as she continued to rant,

"- I mean seriously, she acts all though when really she sounds like a whiny 2nd grader-"

"Bella," Will sighed, with much more edge to the sound of his voice.

"- Well, let me tell you, she has no idea what's going to happen-"

"BELLA!" he finally got the confidence to raise his voice, "WILL YOU JUST SHUT UP? FOR A SECOND?"

Will's shout certainly did shut Bella's mouth. Sighing once again, he put his hands on her shoulders and directed her away from the crowd gathering at the cafe.

He frowned, "It really makes me sick, Bella, that you don't even seem to care to ask me how I felt about doing that stupid task for you."

Bella sighed, "Will, I-" she began to go into a coughing fit, as Will frowned at his girlfriend's attempt at receiving attention.

"I have to go." The blond murmured quietly to his girlfriend. Bella didn't have the time nor the strength to continue to argue with her raspy voice as her boyfriend stomped away. Bella's face, which was once full of excitement and pride dropped as she awkwardly looked down at her shoes. She glanced around the cafe, her eyebrows scrunched as she tried to gather her thoughts. God, why is Will such a little kid sometimes? Whatever, I'll deal with him later... She was making her way over to her two best friends when a certain redhead grabbed her wrist and pulled her aside.

"Why is my brother upset?" Sophie asked the blonde girl.

"Is that some of your business?" Bella asked wearily.

"Being that he's my brother, yes." She replied glaring at the mermaid.

"We just had a disagreement, that's all." The blonde replied curtly shaking her wrist free from Sophie's firm grip. Bella turned on her heel and started to look for Rikki and Cleo. Striding inside of the cafe, she found the two were having a conversation. Cleo fiddled with the straw in her drink, looking very concerned.

"Hey guys," Bella sniffed wetly, sitting onto a chair next to Rikki. "What's up, Cleo?" she stretched a smile.

Cleo and Rikki exchanged glances as they turned in their seats to greet Bella.

"So...Bella," Cleo asked rather softly, "You are...okay, right?"

"Not ready to burst into tears, are you?" Rikki sneered.

Bella's eyebrows scrunched once again as she muttered quietly, "I'm..I'm completely fine...It's just that," she pursed her lip. Emma was nowhere to be seen in sight, and this might as well be Bella's only chance.

"It's just that-" she sniffed once again, preparing herself to hysterically cry once again. "-Emma leaned in and kissed Will! And- and- then she came up after the performance and made fun of him-"

"Wait a minute, Bella, Emma didn't kiss Will-" Cleo tried to interrupt, as Rikki then hissed,

"Hold on, Emma began making fun of Will?"

They paused for a moment, waiting for Bella's reply. Now I have them, Bella laughed in her mind.

She forced a tear to roll down her cheek. "She called Will an idiot, and basically told me that Will wasn't the perfect boyfriend-"

Her voice trailed off, glancing at the girl's faces. Rikki began to lose interest in Bella's defense towards the situation, as Bella swallowed. Even though Cleo revealed how they know Bella's wrong, she knew she still had the chance to lie of what Emma exactly said.

"And then she called him a moron and a desperate loser!" Bella exclaimed, as Cleo sighed, uncomfortably shifting in her chair.

"Well..Maybe it was right for Emma to call Will those names in front of you-"

Bella's eyes twitched, as she snapped abruptly, "Then she gushed to me that she liked how he kissed her! She told me she always had a huge crush on him, and called you two overly dramatic retards!"

"What? Really? Emma said that? But she has a boyfriend! I think we all need to talk about this." Cleo said, confused. Emma wasn't usually one to call her friends insulting names and she also didn't cheat on her boyfriend, Ash. In fact, they just had a date yesterday.

"Yeah, this is getting ridiculous." Rikki agreed, looking at Bella suspiciously.

Bella nodded, then with a fake, smooth honey voice added, "Why don't we invite her over here to talk? I really just want to settle our differences."

Rikki and Cleo slowly nodded, which left an uncomfortable silence.

"I'll, uhm-" Cleo bit her lip, "I'll text Emma that this is an...important meeting."

"Don't tell her I'm here!" Bella quickly snapped, as Cleo raised an eyebrow.

She quickly replied with her explanation, "If..If you tell her, then she won't come."

Rikki's eyebrows raised, nodding her head and Cleo sighed, and began to text Emma.

"Just..There's just one thing I'm confused about," Rikki lowered her voice, staring at Bella's sick face. "Why would Emma call Will a desperate loser and then claim to have a crush on him?"

Bella's face paled for a moment before steadily and slowly answering, "I think it was to say that he was so desperate that he dated me."

Rikki shrugged her shoulders, and then leaned forward with her arms against the table. The way Bella described the situation just didn't seem to click, but she wasn't about to interrogate her any further. At least not until Emma arrived...with-she strangely hoped- a different perspective.

****

A/N: Please don't flame unless you want your computer to explode...


	8. The Fourth Wheel

**A/N: Hey guys! Maddie here! Our group presents you with Chapter 8, (well mostly me and Friend of Fawful worked on it *COUGH COUGH SNEEZE*) Sorry for the short wait**

**(FoF: Short? LAST UPDATE: FEBRUARY 28TH *COUGH COUGH SNEEZE*) Thanks to all of our reviewers, we can't tell you how much you guys mean to us!**

**...Anyways, Chapter 9 will be here as soon as possible:3. Enjoy the Fourth Wheel, especially all of you Bella-dislikers...she's in trouble noww, oooooooohhhhhhhh...**

Making her way into the cafe, Emma strided with somewhat strange confidence

as she lifted her head, spotting the back view of Rikki's head. The confidence was growing in her heart as she made her way across the floor, imagining the future events that lay ahead. Surely, Rikki and Cleo would believe that it was Will the idiot who willingly kissed her with

Bella staring straight ahead. And when I tell them those exact words Bella spat to me, no way

can they forgive her! A smile formed widely across Emma's face, but quickly fell as she noticed a third face as she approached the table.

Bella lifted her unusually pale face to Emma's, her eyes dull and red-rimmed, yet with

somewhat of a glint as if Emma brightened up the atmosphere in the cafe. Or maybe, most

likely, the glint came from Bella's imagination of Emma being defeated by her ridiculous lies. She swirled the remainder of her strawberry smoothie that she ordered two minutes ago, before chugging the rest of it.

Emma pursed her lip, before quietly murmuring,

"Why is she here?"

Rikki's eyes trailed to the table, while Cleo crossed her arms and bit her bottom lip.

"We need to talk. Immediately."

Emma let out a sigh before awkwardly sliding into a seat next to Bella. She uncomfortably leaned back in her seat, as there was a moment of silence between the four

mermaids. In the past few moments, while Emma was confronting Bella about Will, it was strange that she didn't notice until now how truly sick Bella was. A part of her wanted

to break the silence with a snarky voice and say how Bella needed to dive into a bucket

of ice. It was true, though. Emma could feel the heat radiating from Bella's skin; her forehead

probably felt like the freakin' sun. Has this dumb friend-stealer learned about medicine?

Rikki cleared her throat, "Okay, can one of you start talking so we all stop staring at each other?"

Cleo shot her a look while Bella coughed softly,

"I think Emma should start."

Emma rolled her eyes, "Oh, where to begin? How about when you practically

screamed at me for doing absolutely nothing wrong?"

Bella's jaw dropped, as Cleo and Rikki listened in silence. "Well- I think you should apologize, after what you told me back at that bench!"

"What did I say besides proving my point?"

"That you have a crush on Will?" Rikki muttered under her breath. Emma's eyes widened, while Bella raised an eyebrow. Besides her growing sickness today, karma was definitely in her favor.

"A crush on WILL?" Emma shouted, while glaring at Bella. "That is a complete _lie_!"

Bella was about to snap back a reply before Cleo shouted, "OKAY, you know what? I'll talk while the two of you listen."

Emma watched Bella immediately obey Cleo's command by nodding her head and sliding back in her seat. Emma rolled her eyes, as her eyes slowly trailed to the concerned look on Cleo's face.

"Listen, Bella," Cleo spoke with a soft and yet shaky tone, "Rikki and I- we both know that the fact is that Will is the one who kissed Emma," she paused, looking upon Bella's emotionless face. "Not her."

"Yeah," Rikki snapped, "So is it also true what Emma called us? Is it true she has a crush on Will?" she leaned forward in her seat.

"What? I don't know what you're talking about! I don't like that slimeball! What kind of desperate person do you think I am, to like someone who cheats on their girlfriend? I'm not cheating on Ash!" Emma snapped.

Cleo calmly tried to explain, "Bella told us what happened at the-"

"Whatever Bella told you what happened at the bench is wrong! Completely!"

Bella's eyes twitched, as hatred began to fill her heart. She was ratted out, obviously, but she was still willing to grab some desperate attention. She, hoarsely, let out her voice,

"B-but- I heard it with my own ears, Cleo! Okay, maybe my eyes were messed up a bit while on stage-"

"Messed up a bit?" Rikki snorted, "try a lot."

Bella let out a frustrated sigh, before coughing once more. "Fine. Whatever, Will did kiss Emma, not the other way around," she spoke in a rather robotic tone.

"Good," Cleo forced a smile as she looked upon the two girls who looked like they wanted to attack each other.

"Hold up," Rikki muttered. "Were still not settled yet. Did Emma really call us retards?"

"Excuse me?" Emma spat, appalled, "Did I call you retards? Of course not! What are you; crazy?"

Rikki frowned as she shrugged her shoulders, "maybe, but hey, you two keep telling

us two different things. I don't know who to believe!"

Bella took the awkward moment of silence as her advantage and shouted, "You should believe the one who makes m-m-" the strain of her voice led to another coughing fit, as Rikki stared at her with her eyes widened and her eyebrows furrowed as Emma, once again, rolled her eyes and sighed.

"-more sense," Rikki let out a breath.

Rikki and Cleo both glanced at Emma, as she crossed her arms and cast her eyes

downwards to the floor.

"Well, then," Rikki sighed. "That settles everything!" she shouted sarcastically in a positive tone. "Now, if you excuse me-" Rikki stood up, ready to leave her seat, as Cleo called out,

"Wait! Why don't we..relieve our stresses...by going out for a swim?"

Rikki rolled her eyes, and looked down at Cleo's desperate face, while Bella looked

rather mortified. Emma, however, was trying terribly to hold back her smile. Bella would have to say 'no', otherwise she would get sicker! Biting her lip to hide her grin, she said, "okay, maybe it'll help if we discuss this more in a private place like Mako."

"All right; count me in," Rikki sighed, she might as well go, too. Bella rubbed the back of her neck, she really didn't feel like swimming, but she wasn't about to let Emma have alone time with her friends. The other three girls stared at her, waiting for her answer.

The singer mentally slapped herself as she said, "sure! That sounds like a great idea!" Emma's eyes widened a fraction at the other girl's stupidity, but let it go. If Bella wanted to make a stupid decision, who was she to stop her? The four left the cafe, and after making sure that they were alone, dived into the water.

When they arrived at Mako, the four mermaids remained in the water in an almost awkward way. Goosebumps the size of

"I think we should put this all behind us." Bella announced, sounding fakely sincere. She knew there was no other way out that she would benefit from. At this rate, if she tried to continue the argument, everyone would probably take Emma's side.

"I think that would be best." Emma mumbled. She knew what Bella was doing, and she despised her for it. Cleo let out a breath of relief that no one knew she was holding.

"So, we're all cool, now?" Rikki asked them, receiving nods from Bella and Emma, "Good. So then, what are you going to do about Will?" The question was directed at Bella. The mermaid paled at Rikki's question; how could she make this believable?

"I'll, uh probably have a little chat with him." Bella said, pounding her fist into her hand, suggesting that she wasn't going to let him get away with what he had done.

"You tell him!" Rikki approved, grinning until Cleo elbowed her underwater.

Bella forced a giggle, and Emma fake smiled, since neither one of them wanted their friends to see how much they dreaded each other.

"I love Mako; it's our place." Cleo said in a faraway voice. Emma bit the inside of her cheek; well it used to be! Now it's also Bella's place.

"Yeah, it is!" Bella, of all people, had to practically shout. Emma almost punched Bella in the face after she said this.

"It feels like yesterday we came for the first time." Emma murmured, once again trying to leave Bella out.

"It does, doesn't it?" Rikki replied, sounding sentimental.

"If you could do it all over again, would you change anything?" Cleo asked Emma and Rikki, forgetting of Bella's presence.

"Not a thing." Emma said, except that Bella wouldn't be here.

"Well, I'd give us laser vision." Rikki joked, grinning. Emma and Cleo giggled, seeing this, Bella laughed too, but she felt like she was on the outside.

"Sh-should we go back?" Bella asked, she had goosebumps the size of pimples running down her body. The other three hesitated, it was clear that they wanted to stay there as long as forever.

"Well, we just got here like ten minutes ago." Rikki mumbled, after exchanging glances with her friends. The other two mermaids wore a look of disappointment, matching Rikki's.

"Well, I kind of...wanted to stay for awhile. But, if you want to go back, don't let us hold you up." Cleo spoke up. Bella panicked inside, she couldn't leave Emma alone with Cleo and Rikki!

"N-nah, I was only teasing you!" Bella faked a laugh, ignoring how tired the tone of her voice was.

"Had me fooled!" Rikki chuckled. Cleo stared at Bella with what appeared to be concern, and said,

"Hey, are you okay? You seem a bit...off." Emma almost had to clamp her mouth into her hands to prevent herself from grinning.

"Yeah, I'm still handling my cold, so-"

"Then, don't you think you should go home and rest?" Cleo frowned, "Bella, you didn't have to force yourself here."

"Yeah, you look really pale." Emma added, smirking slightly, yet only Bella seem to notice this.

"No," Bella replied, with a rather rude tone, then quickly added, "you guys don't need to worry about me, I'm fine." She stretched a reassuring smile across her face.

"All right then, just don't freakishly cough all over me," Rikki muttered, in her rather obviously sarcastic tone.

"I think that we should go back now." Cleo interrupted, not wanting Bella to get internally worse, and also trying to prevent a potential argument from erupting.

"But you just sai-" Bella was cut off.

"Well, it'll be late by the time we get back. I don't want my dad to worry." The brunette exchanged glances with the trio as she lamely came up with an excuse to leave.

Rikki simply rolled her eyes, while Emma's eyes were cast towards the ground. Her heart was tugged as she remembered the good old times, back when it was just her, Cleo, and Rikki. There were some days where she proudly watched Bella being treated as the awkward fourth wheel, and yet, although she felt guiltiness towards causing Bella's sickness, a larger part of her heart feared the thought of Bella replacing her more. But was it possible that _Emma_ was becoming the fourth wheel? Emma then decided in the silence between the four that she would increase Bella's sickness.

**A/N: No flames, I hate the sound of smoke alarms. DX (Friend of Fawful)**


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